Wang offers to deal with Beijing

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday said he was willing to visit China in order to delay or prevent anti-secession legislation from being passed.

"It would be more feasible for the legislative branches of both sides to communicate with each other," Wang said.

"I hope that even if we cannot prevent China from passing the anti-secession bill, at least we can delay the legislation so that we can secure some more time and space for the advancement of cross-strait peace," he said.

Wang, who was speaking with newspaper reporters yesterday, said that China would process the anti-secession bill in April and that he was worried that cross-strait tensions would increase as a result.

"As long as the two sides can agree to put aside political ideology, there are many things we can talk about, including direct chartered flights and Chinese tourists traveling to Taiwan," he said.

Wang added that the Legislative Yuan would establish a special task force on cross-strait relations as soon as possible after the new legislative session begins, and that the legislature could play the role of an icebreaker for relations with China.

But Wang said President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration needed to show goodwill, otherwise the legislature would have no bargaining power.

"It depends on what gestures of goodwill the government wants us to take to the other side to fortify mutual trust and respect," he said.

Regarding the NT$610.8 billion (US$19.2 billion) arms deal with the US, Wang said the administration should communicate with the opposition parties outside the Legislative Yuan and work out their differences.

"The government should visit the opposition parties' headquarters and listen to their opinions on the deal, while those parties should prepare their position on the matter beforehand," Wang said. "After the opposition parties have reached a decision, it would be a positive thing for the government to visit their chairmen."

Meanwhile, in response to People First Party Chairman James Soong's offer to meet Chen over the cross-strait impasse if the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) revised its stance on Taiwanese independence, acting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Ker Chien-ming yesterday reiterated that the DPP's "Resolution on Taiwan's Future" long ago replaced its "Taiwan Independence clause."

Soong suggested that revising the DPP's stance on Taiwan's independence could be an "icebreaker" for cross-strait relations.

"What the DPP has been trying to achieve is political reconciliation and collaboration, not a cross-party merger," Ker said. "I think it is important for political parties to respect each other if we really want cooperation."

The "Resolution on Taiwan's Future," passed in 1999, and stated that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state called "the Republic of China" and not a province or special administrative region of China. The resolution aimed to ease anxiety over the DPP's support for independence.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JEWEL HUANG

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